


A little piece of home

by DestinyMass



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 05:33:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17543648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinyMass/pseuds/DestinyMass
Summary: After managing to get his crew some shore leave, Scott intends to spend his time with Gil, who's also got plans in the making. Just what is he up to, and why is Lexi involved?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little piece of home was written as part of the REBB mini test. It was inspired by the wonderful artwork of Jeannedarcprice, which is included in this fic. If you love Gilder, you will adore Jeanne's tumblr, its jam-packed with Gilder goodness. I absolutely loved having the opportunity to work with such a talented artist to create a little something based around incredible art. And Jeanne, if/when you read this, I just want to say that I am so happy I got to work with you and I adored our conversations in between discussing the REBB, I got excited everytime I saw a message from you and we were able to gush together about the most random topics that came up.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy a little piece of home, some of which is drawn from personal experiences, see if you can guess which bits!
> 
> -AJ

 

 

“Wait, so you’re telling me that we’ve actually been given some downtime? On Eos? Has the Nexus finally realised we’re long overdue our shore leave?” asked Gil, his head just visible from underneath the Nomad.

“Not really, they want us to scan the Scourge around the planet and collect any data that could be useful in developing warning systems. Since they didn’t class it as urgent, I figured we could use a day or two to have some much-needed rest,” replied Scott from the upper deck.

“Ryder you crafty devil, I could kiss you!”

“Not while you’re covered in grease, please,” Scott half-heartedly protested.

“Now I know you’re teasing, you _never_ miss an opportunity to get close to me,” Gil teased as Scott’s face grew red.

Drack, who had been watching Gil work, chuckled at Ryder’s expense.

“Heh, he’s got you there kid, you don’t even try to be subtle anymore.”

Scott coughed, and, with his ears burning, retreated to the safety of the walkway, Gil and Drack’s laughter ringing after him. Drack chortled to himself, seemingly pleased with himself for embarrassing Scott. Gil emerged from underneath the Nomad, wiping his hands on a cloth that had seen better days and threw it at Drack.

“You know we’re not gonna see him for hours now don’t you? He’s gonna avoid us both.”

“Please, I give it two hours before SAM tells you he wants you to go see him,” Drack replied.

Gil snorted. “You’re probably right old timer. So what do you think you’ll get up to while we’ve got some time off?”

“Hell if I know, its Eos, there’s not really much to do there now there’s no Kett to kill.”

“Oh come on Drack! There’s plenty to do, maybe you could actually _relax._ ” Gil suggested.

“Gil, Dr T’Perro is asking for you. She said to inform you she found your experiment and is not pleased,” announced SAM’s voice.

The colour drained from Gil’s face. Lexi finding out he was misusing her equipment had _not_ been part of his risk assessment.

“Er, SAM? Could you tell her that I’m on my way, and that I’m _reallllly_ sorry!” he said, already running to his favourite hiding place.

“This is a showdown I can’t wait to see” Drack chuckled as Gil retreated to what he thought was safety.

On the other side of the ship, Scott was hiding out in his quarters. While he was used to gentle ribbing from Gil on an almost daily basis, he still wasn’t used  to others joining in so freely. While he didn’t really mind, sometimes it became a little too much. In an effort to forget about it, he was reading through the latest issue of Nexus Weekly when the intercom buzzed frantically. He didn’t even have time to check who it was before Gil’s voice echoed through the speaker.

“Scott? Scott, I know you’re not happy with me right now but I could really do with hiding out in your room. Lexi is really annoyed at me right now and this is the only place she won’t barge in looking for me straight away. So, light of my life, my heart, my moon and stars etcetera etcetera, will you please let me in and spare me from her wrath?”

Scott chuckled. He wasn’t mad at Gil in the slightest, but now he had a chance for a little payback.

“And why should I risk her wrath for you? You’re a big boy, you’ll survive, in fact why don't l tell her where you are now so it's over and done with?”

“First of all, you know how much of a big boy I am. Second, you wouldn’t, surely you’re not that cruel!” Gil pleaded.

“Fine, I’ll let you in, but it’s gonna cost you!”

“Right now I’ll pay any price, I don’t want to hear Lexi moan about how I’m misusing resources!”

Deciding to show his slightly unhinged boyfriend some mercy, Scott opened the door, allowing Gil inside. He practically fell through the door and quickly made sure it shut behind him. Scott had to take a moment to admire Gil’s glistening arms, constantly tinkering with the Tempest and all the equipment on it had given the man some exceptionally large muscles that Scott very much enjoyed wrapped around him as he went to sleep. He was brought out of his daze by SAM who was bearing bad news.

“Ryder, Doctor T’Perro is asking if you would send Gil to see her. Drack has informed her that he was on his way to see you”

“That bastard! l can’t believe he snitched on me!” Gil exclaimed.

“Are you really that surprised? Drack and Lexi always stick together,” Scott snickered.

“You may as well go and get her lecture over with, it can’t be that bad. What did you do this time anyway?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise, I’m not telling you until l absolutely have to, besides, Lexi might ruin it and then you’d be all excited for nothing” replied Gil.

“Excited for nothing? Now what does that remind me of….” Scott teased.

“That was one time Ryder! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with my doom,” Gil replied, moving as slowly as possible.

Despite his sluggish pace, Gil was outside the medical room in no time at all. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. He found Lexi with her back turned to the door, hunched over a device that Gil knew she had retrieved from the back of one of the cupboards. He cleared his throat, and steeled himself for Lexi’s ire. She spun round, her face scrunched into a frown.

“Gil. How nice of you to come and see me. Within the first day of me finding your latest experiment too,” she said, her face unreadable.

“It’s a nice change isn’t it? I’m turning over a new leaf,” he said, trying desperately to read Lexi.

_Her poker face is incredible. I should try and get her to play cards._ He thought, losing his focus. Lexi’s voice quickly brought him back.

“A new leaf would be leaving my equipment alone or only using it for its intended purposes, not making whatever _this_ is,” she said, gesturing towards the device on the counter, which was filled with a viscous liquid that looked nothing like what Gil had envisioned.

“Would you like to explain to me what you were attempting to concoct in a medi-gel replicator?”

“Well, maybe don’t judge me too harshly for this, but Scott’s been craving ice cream recently, and with everything that’s happened I figured I’d try and make some for him. I thought homemade would be better than that replicated crap they keep trying to sell,” Gil explained sheepishly.

Lexi looked Gil up and down, and her frown softened. She sighed softly and motioned for him to come closer to his failed attempt at ice cream.

“While I certainly don’t approve of you using my equipment to do it, I appreciate what you want to do for Scott. Something as small as that will do wonders for his psyche, especially after the last few months. So, allow me to give you a hand,” she offered, a smile breaking.

“Really? Lexi that would be great! I know it’s gonna make Scott really happy!”

“A little something to remind him of home, it’s really sweet Gil. Although I have to ask, how did you manage to find the ingredients for it?” Lexi asked.

“The Hyperion, there’s half a storage deck just filled with food from Earth in cryogenic storage. I guess people just didn’t want to part with everything from the Milky Way,” Gil laughed.

“I can certainly understand that,” Lexi smiled.

“So, instead of using my equipment, get one of the sample containers from the bio-lab. They’re temperature controlled so you won’t lose the consistency. And then the best thing to do would be………………..”


	2. Chapter 2

The Tempest made good time to Eos. Kallo expertly set them down on the outskirts of Podromos and powered down the engines.

“Shore leave here we come!” Suvi exclaimed.

“I can’t wait to actually get out there without wearing armour,” said Cora, wearing a tank top and shorts.

“It’s certainly a nice change,” replied Liam, similarly dressed.

“What are you guys planning on doing?” asked Scott, who had selected to wear a pair of purple shorts and his infamous blasto tank top.

“Swimming!” said Liam.

“Now that the Kett are a non-issue here they’ve started turning site two into a bit of a leisure spot. There’s a bar, and its right next to the water, I’ve even heard rumours they want to add a restaurant or two.” He added.

“Wow, they move fast. You wouldn’t think it was only been a couple of years since we kicked the Archon’s ass,” said Cora, impressed.“I’m going to head over to my little patch and see how the garden’s going. Then I’m going to grab a datapad, put my feet up and read,” she added.

“That sounds nice. Suvi, what about you?” asked Scott.

“Oh, I’ve roped Kallo into coming with me and taking some photographs. I’m determined to make a scrapbook showcasing everything we get up to as we roam about the cluster, and shore leave is a great time to start,” Suvi answered, holding out a camera while Kallo hoisted a bag onto his shoulders.

“That’s a really good idea Suvi. By the way, where is everyone else? I thought they were excited for some time off too?” asked Liam.

“Peebee practically leaped off the Tempest when we landed, so she really could be anywhere by now. Jaal was talking to his family and Drack and Vetra were mumbling about looking around Podromos. I haven’t seen Lexi or Gil since SAM announced she was after him,” Cora answered.

“Oh-oh Ryder. Sounds like the doctor finally snapped. She’s probably disposing of his body as we speak!” teased Liam.

Scott laughed. “I like to think Gil knows how to take care of himself.”

“You do know how often he forgets to eat and sleep right? Sorry Ryder, your boyfriend is gone!” Suvi chimed in.

“Please, we all know how long Lexi can tell us off for, I guarantee you she’s probably only halfway finished with Gil,” Scott replied, earning a grin from everyone present.

“Maybe you can be his knight in shining armour and go rescue him then. Otherwise you won’t be spending any quality time with him,” said Liam with a wink.

“Besides, as much as we’d love to stay and see what happened to him, we’ve got our own relaxation to do. Laters!” With that, the group quickly dispersed and headed off in different directions, leaving Scott at the ramp of the Tempest.

“I probably _should_ go see if Gil needs saving,” he muttered to himself.

Turning around, Scott walked up the ramp and back onto the Tempest. It was strangely quiet now that the majority of the crew were not on-board, and Scott took a moment to appreciate the quiet hum of power. Reaching the medbay, he cautiously opened the door and walked in.

He stopped in surprise. Instead of Lexi berating Gil he found the two of them hunched over a desk at the far side and talking about something Scott couldn’t see. Lexi sounded pleased, and Gil was nodding along.

“I’d say this time it was pretty successful, and now it’s being kept cold it’ll be ready for whenever you need it,” said Lexi.

“This is great. Thanks Lexi, I know it’s gonna go down really well, and now I’ve just got one thing left to do.”

Scott coughed, and Gil and Lexi turned round quickly, still obscuring whatever it was they had been doing.

“Scott! What are you doing here? I thought you’d be getting started on your relaxation!” exclaimed Gil.

“I thought we were going to spend it together, so I came to see if you needed help escaping Lexi. No offence,” Scott said.

“None taken, it turns out it was just a misunderstanding, so I offered to help him out,” Lexi answered smoothly, impressing Gil with her quick thinking. “We’re all done here anyway, so he’s all yours Ryder,” she continued, smiling and walking over to Scott.“I’ve got an appointment with a chair in the sun, so I’m off,” she said as she walked through the door and towards the ramp.

Scott waited until he was sure Lexi was out of earshot before he spoke.

“So, what diabolical scheme did you come up with to convince her to help you?” he asked.

“Scott I’m hurt!” Gil exclaimed, sticking out his lower lip in mock sadness.

“It was exactly as she said, it was a misunderstanding and once it was cleared up she offered to help. And it’s still a surprise before you ask what it is.”

Scott grinned, moving closer to Gil so he could place his hands on Gil’s waist, pulling him closer. He leaned in for a kiss. Gil reciprocated, his beard bristling against Scott’s skin. Gil ran his hands along Scott’s back fervently, and deepened the kiss. He leaned back onto the counter, and Scott straddled his lap, refusing to break the kiss. Gil pulled away, a large grin on his face.

“Someone wanted attention,” he said wryly.

“Well _someone_ was late for shore leave,” Scott fired back.

“I guess that’s fair. I’ve still got one more thing to do and then I’m all yours. You’re going to love this, I promise.”

“It better be something truly spectacular to make up for me having to spend half the day by myself!” Scott teased.

“It won’t be half the day you big drama queen. Maybe two hours tops. Trust me, it’ll be worth the wait,” said Gil.

“Fine,” said Scott, pouting. “I guess I’ll go grab something to eat and read a book till you’re done.”

Gil flashed his brilliant smile, the one he saved just for Scott.

“Just don’t have anything heavy, you need to save some room for later,” he said as he quickly grabbed a small box and darted to the exit.

Scott let out a small laugh. Gil’s antics were helplessly endearing to him. Heading towards the kitchen, he couldn’t help but wonder what Gil was up to. Scott settled on a bag of dehydrated fruit and a juice the Angara made out of a fruit native to Aya. Sitting on the sofa, he put his feet up and picked up his datapad, looking for a short book he could read while he waited. He picked out an old book titled _Big Sky Country_ and was just about to start when his omni-tool flashed.

“Hey little brother! How’s it going?” Sara’s voice echoed through the speaker.

“Sara! You’re a minute older, that doesn’t count. It’s going well, I managed to wrangle a bit of shore leave so everyone’s out relaxing, how are things with you?”

“Time off? That’s so unfair, they’ve got me digging through a load of rem-tech since I’m technically a researcher. I’m ready to throw it all out the airlock!” Sara replied.

“Please, you love it! You’re just annoyed they won’t let you smash it up.”

“But it’s for research! How am I supposed to figure out how the insides work without _looking_ inside?”

Scott laughed. “You will eventually, you know how protocol is.”

“Well protocol sucks! Anyway, I was actually hoping to speak to you about getting reassigned to the Tempest. I put in my request but they said you need to approve it before they’ll consider it. So do you think you could do that? I know you want your sister there.”

“Do I though? It’s been pretty peaceful without you,” Scott teased.

“How rude! I’ll get there one way or another I promise you. And when I do – Crap! The boss is coming, gotta go!” she said, disconnecting the call.

Scott smiled, and set himself a reminder to approve Sara’s request at some point in the next few days, just to let her sweat a bit. Turning back to his datapad, he tapped on the first chapter of his book, and started to read.      


	3. Chapter 3

Scott was only about halfway through his book when Gil messaged him.

_All ready! Bring your helmet and join me on the top of the Tempest!_

“On top of the Tempest? What could he be possibly be doing up there?” he wondered aloud.

He got up from his seat and stretched, heading to the armoury to grab his helmet as instructed. He was still running the possibilities through his head when he got outside. Looking around he couldn’t see Gil, or even any way to actually get onto the top of the Tempest.

“Gil? Where are you? And just how do you expect me to get up there?” he shouted.

As if on cue, a rope was dropped from above, accompanied by Gil’s voice.

“You’ve got to climb of course! Trust me, it’s a lot easier than the way I got up here!”

Scott sighed, and took hold of the rope. Lifting himself off the ground, he focused on keeping his momentum as he climbed upwards. Fortunately he was able to take some of the pressure off his arms when he reached halfway, using the Tempest to walk up the last stretch. Huffing, Scott pulled himself over the edge and rolled onto his back. Gil stood over him, a welder’s mask covering his face.

“Contrary to popular belief, I hate climbing,” Scott panted between breaths.

“But you’re so good at falling! I assumed the opposite would be true,” Gil shot back, grinning underneath the mask.

Scott scowled, and sat up. His comeback died in his throat when he took in Gil’s appearance. Besides the welder’s mask covering his face, the only other article of clothing on his body was a pair of extremely short pink and yellow trunks. His body was glistening with sweat, and appeared to glow in the sun.

“Wow!”

“Oh, do you like this? It’s just a casual look, I can leave the mask on if you like. I think it really completes the look.”

Scott laughed, and extended his arm to Gil, inviting him to sit in his lap. Gil obliged, and lifted the mask off his face. Wrapping his arms around Scott, he leaned in to whisper into his ear.

“Ready for your surprise?”

“Oh yeah, I thought you’d keep it secret forever,” Scott replied.

Gil smirked, and grabbed Scott’s chin, turning his head towards the wing of the Tempest.  Under the shadow was an old-fashioned picnic basket and towel, as well as a bottle and a bucket that was filled with an assortment of Angaran fruit. Sitting right in front of the basket was a container.

“Is that ice cream? Where did you find it!?” exclaimed Scott, excited.

“I know you’ve been craving it recently, so I convinced your sister to give me the recipe you used to use when you made it at home, and made my own,” Gil confessed, happy to see Scott so excited.

“She still has the recipe?”

“Scott, your sister had the thing memorised. And I figured you could do with a little piece of home to help you relax. Which is why I needed your helmet, I’m going to add an audio receptor for some of your music, and link it to the camera I’ve put up here so you’ve got some nice views when you want them.”

“That can wait, I want to get into that ice cream!” Scott exclaimed, his eyes focused on it.

“Fine, fine, you might want to put some sun screen on first though, because we are going to get you a tan.”

“But I never tan, I don’t burn either.”

“Still, better safe than sorry,” said Gil.

Grumbling a little, Scott did as he was told. Removing his tank top, he poured a generous amount of sun screen into his hands and applied it to his body. Satisfied, Gil opened up the ice cream and offered a spoon to Scott.

“Dig in,” he said.

Scott ate the ice cream with gusto, letting out an appreciative sigh. “This is so good Gil! I can’t believe you made this!”

“Well I can’t claim all the credit. Lexi helped once she knew why I tried to destroy her equipment,” Gil grinned.

“So that’s what you were up to. I was almost convinced she was going to keep you trapped until you’d cleaned the entire medbay.”

Gil laughed, lying down next to Scott and stretching. “She’s not so bad really, she likes to make sure we’re all taken care of after all.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

They settled onto the towel, making small talk and sharing the ice cream and drinks Gil had somehow managed to bring up with him. They gazed out over Eos, and Scott felt more content than he had in a long time. He held onto Gil’s hand, the occasional brush or soft kiss interrupting their silence. Eventually the sun began to set, and Scott sat up in an effort to consider moving.

“Er, Scott? Did you forget to keep putting sun screen on?” asked Gil.

“No, why?”

“Because you’ve gone very red” he smirked.

Scott looked down at his chest, and cursed. “Damnit! That’s gonna hurt later!”

Gil laughed, and looked at Scott with pity. “Don’t worry, a bit of medi-gel and you won’t even feel it.”

Scott was grumbling about his newly acquired sunburn as they slowly made their way down off the roof. Gil had just gotten the rope folded away when Suvi and Kallo found them.

“Ryder! You look a little sore,” said Suvi.

“I feel it!” replied Scott.

“Well at least now I know it isn’t my camera that’s playing up. I got a lovely shot of the two of you while we were on our way back. I’ve got a copy for you as well as the scrapbook,” she said, holding out a photograph.

Scott looked at it, and a goofy smile appeared on his face. He showed it to Gil, who also smiled.

“This is lovely, thank you Suvi,” said Scott.

 

 

“It can be the start of our collection, some little pieces of our new home,” Gil told him.

“I like that, a little piece of home,” smiled Scott.


End file.
